African Artists - Sokari Douglas Camp October 14 2014, 0 Comments

This week we would like to introduce you to one of our favourite African sculptors Sokari Douglas Camp. Born in 1958 in the Kalabari town of Buguma, Nigeria, Sokari has lived in London since 1983 and studied at the London Royal College of Art.

She finds her sculpture inspirations in her Nigerian origins but also in the relationship between Europe and Africa and the different issues it can generate. She is one of the first female African artists to pierce into the European art market because, in Nigeria, women can’t create objects unless they have a functional or religious purpose. It was thanks to her travels to England and Italy during her formation that she could disassociate herself from her culture and started to become the artist she is today. She uses mostly steel, a symbol for her career choice and independence, as it is traditionally an exclusive male material to use in Africa.

The Kalabari Masquerade in which water spirits join their worshippers among the world of men is one of her main subject. She was not allowed to participate at these festivals in Nigeria as it was reserved to men. She chose to represent the all-traditional outfit, dressing up her character with ritual clothing, and not only the masks.

She gives life to her sculptures and makes them as representative as possible: they are life-sized, able to move and to produce sounds.

She won the memorial for Ken Saro-Wiwa in London and collaborated with Ground Force to create an African Garden for the British Museum. Today you can see her exhibits all over the world in Japan, New Zealand, Europe, New York.

Purge : woman (2011), Steel, Oil Drum

Afro Rock (2011) Steel, Perspex

We were strong (2012)

'All the World is now Richer' is to commemorate the abolition of slavery.